Hurricane Ian Forces Relaunch of SpaceX's Crew-5 Astronaut by Oct. 4

The launch of SpaceX's astronaut mission for NASA has been delayed by at least a day due to Hurricane Ian.

The Crew-5 voyage to the International Space Station (ISS) was scheduled to launch on October 3 from Pad 39A at the Florida-based Kennedy Space Center (KSC).

Postponed by 24 Hours

The planned liftoff has been postponed by at least 24 hours, until Oct. 4, due to the threat posed by Ian, a strong Category 3 hurricane that is now barreling north toward Florida. However, that schedule is still subject to change.

NASA said in a blog post that mission teams will keep an eye on Ian's effects on Florida's Space Coast and Kennedy Space Center, and if required, they may change the launch date once more.

In the upcoming days, more information on the planned timetable, including crew arrival from the organization's Johnson Space Center to Kennedy, will be made available.

Crew arrival is anticipated to happen no earlier than Friday, Sept. 30, based on existing scheduling. For NASA and SpaceX, the safety of the crew, ground personnel, and equipment is of the highest concern for now.

Kennedy Space Center is preparing to protect additional property and infrastructure across the spaceport while the Dragon Endurance spacecraft is currently attached to the Falcon 9 rocket and safely secured within SpaceX's hangar at Launch Complex 39A.

Teams from NASA and SpaceX will assess any potential effects on the center as the storm intensifies and decide whether to modify the mission timeframe based on their findings.

The agency's Crew-4 mission's undocking from the space station will proceed day by day concurrently with the Crew-5 launch date to facilitate a scheduled five-day direct transfer between crews.

NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada will fly on the Crew-5 mission as the mission commander and pilot, respectively. Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Anna Kikina of Roscosmos will work as the mission specialists.

Crew-4, the most recent mission from SpaceX, is still on board the ISS but is shortly expected to return to Earth. The departure date for Crew-4 is dependent upon the launch date for Crew-5.

NASA and SpaceX want the two crews to spend five days together on the station, according to Space.com.

Artemis Delayed

Hurricane Ian has also affected NASA's first mission to the moon after 50 years. The agency had to roll the massive Artemis 1 moon rocket off Pad 39B at KSC and back to the center's enormous Vehicle Assembly Building for protection against the storm.

As of now, NASA has not yet announced an official launch schedule for the Artemis 1 mission. However, if the SLS rocket is formally returned to the VAB, the Artemis 1 mission may be postponed until the second half of October.

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Written by Joaquin Victor Tacla